The lawn trimmer described in my prior patent comprises a motor housing which is rigid at the top with a laterally extending grip and at the bottom with a generally horizontal shield plate overlying a rotary cutter driven by a motor in the housing. The user may hold the apparatus by the grip, bending close to the ground in that instance, but may also employ a long-stemmed handle allowing the operation of the trimmer in an erect position. The handle is received in a socket forming part of a mounting member which is detachably secured to the housing between the grip and the shield plate. The patent, in fact, shows two such sockets with different angles of inclination, the handle being insertable into either socket for the convenience of persons of different height.
In order to start and stop the motor, the grip of the trimmer disclosed in my prior patent is provided on its underside with a manually operable switch which opens and closes upon alternate depressions of its trigger. This indexing of the switch in either an open or a closed position is necessary since the user, when employing the long handle, cannot keep the trigger continually depressed in order to maintain the motor in operation. It could, however, lead to an accident if the user, holding the apparatus by its grip, happens to drop it with the switch closed. It is, of course, possible to provide both the handle and the grip with individual spring-biased switches connected in parallel so that depression of either trigger closes the motor circuit; in that case, however, special connectors must be provided for completing the circuit to the second switch when the handle is being emplaced.